If I Could Swim
by No Sleep Until Vacation
Summary: Alphys has never learned to swim, and although she wants to learn, she is a bit nervous about the whole thing. Can Undyne help her conquer her fear? Alphyne friendship and mild romance; two-shot.


**A/N: Happy anniversary, Undertale! I'm publishing this late at night, but I don't care!**

For as long as she could remember, Alphys had lived in Hotland. This was mainly out of necessity, since that was where the lab was located, and moving the equipment elsewhere would be too much of a hassle. Part of it was also due to personal preference; she had visited Snowdin once, a very long time ago, and she just found it too cold. Waterfall was also a very tranquil place, and until everyone moved above, it just so happened to be the home of Undyne, Alphys' very dear friend (and girlfriend, as of shortly before the barrier was broken). However, the very damp environment would probably not be kind to the laboratory equipment.

Even if it were, one other thing made Alphys apprehensive about her occasional visits: she had never learned how to swim.

This wasn't too big of a deal on a technical level; most of the places where she'd walked had very shallow water, if any at all, and so swimming wasn't required. On some occasions, though, she was more than a bit nervous about accidentally falling off a bridge into the deeper water; what would she do then?

Her anxiety about the whole thing was otherwise miniscule while they were still underground. However, now that they were on the surface, it was an entirely different story. In particular, since she was now dating Undyne, who was pretty much made for swimming and other such activities, Alphys wondered if Undyne would ever want her to go swimming with her.

On one hand, the thought of sinking in the water and possibly drowning made Alphys terrified. But on the other hand, Undyne loved swimming; Alphys didn't want to take that away from her just because of her own fears.

The thought had been weighing on her mind one day while she and Undyne were watching Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. It was an episode where everyone went to the beach; seeing the characters splashing around in the water led to Alphys blurting it out.

"I wish I could swim..."

She immediately started to panic inside. _Oh God, did I just...?_

Undyne paused the show and looked at her. "You don't already know?"

Trembling, Alphys shook her head.

With a concerned look, Undyne put a hand on Alphys' shoulder. "Hey, Alphys. It's okay if you don't know."

"R-really?"

"Of course! I mean, you lived in Hotland for, what, your whole life?"

"Yes...as far as I can remember..."

Undyne smiled. "You see? It's no big deal! I mean, where _can_ you swim in Hotland, anyway? The lava?"

With a nervous laugh, Alphys rubbed the back of her head. "I d-don't think th-that would work too well..."

"Yeah, me neither. Unless you're a fire elemental, you'd pretty much be screwed." Undyne briefly wondered to herself if fire elementals even swam in lava, but then a sudden realization hit her. "Wait a minute..."

Alphys froze again. "W-what?"

Undyne gained a serious look on her face. "You don't want to learn how to swim just to impress me, do you?"

"Well...I..." Alphys couldn't get more words out, no matter how she tried.

"If that's why you want to learn, then don't even worry about not knowing how to swim." Undyne looked Alphys straight in the eye, before gently smiling. "I like you for you, not for what you can or can't do."

She put an arm around Alphys and smirked. "And if anyone tells me I should feel otherwise, they're in for it!"

Alphys tried to smile, but one thing still concerned her. "Thanks, but...I know how much you like swimming, and...w-well, I don't want you to f-feel like you have to give that up because of me."

"Don't worry about it, Alphys!" Undyne was still smiling. "There's lots of other stuff we can do! We can sing karaoke, or play games, or watch anime! Hell, we're doing that last one right now!"

"Heh...I g-guess you're right..." Alphys smiled for the first time in the past few minutes, finally starting to feel better about this whole thing.

After a brief moment, Undyne glanced at Alphys. "Of course, if you _really_ want to learn how to swim..."

Alphys chuckled a little. "Well, yeah, I _was_ kinda worried about my safety, especially around deep water..."

"Well, then..." Undyne stood up and took Alphys' hand in her own, smiling. "How's about I teach you how to swim?"

Alphys' face lit up like she was a child on Christmas morning. "Y-you'd do that for me? Really?"

"Of course I would, Alphys!" Undyne embraced her and leaned in close to her ear. "I'd do anything to help you feel better."

Alphys returned the embrace, almost ready to cry tears of joy. "Thank you...thank you so much..."

"No problem."

Undyne unpaused the episode, and until the credits rolled, the two stayed in each other's arms. Throughout the rest of the episode, Alphys' thoughts were racing.

 _If I could swim, I'd be able to save myself from drowning if I were in deep water. Undyne and I could go swimming together...and maybe, if we all went to the beach, or if we had a pool party, I wouldn't have to sit on the sidelines. If I could swim, I could conquer my fear of drowning!_

 _...is this what it feels like to be determined?_

After the credits sequence ended, Undyne stood up, smiling. "So, when do you want to start?"

"Well..."

 **A/N: Will Alphys conquer her fear? Stay tuned...**


End file.
